


Winter Iris

by MintDaechu25



Series: Deresute Femslash Week 2019 [2]
Category: THE iDOLM@STER, The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls
Genre: Deresute Femslash Week, Deresute Femslash Week 2019, F/F, Femslash, Flirting, Fluff, Winter, Yuri, hand holding, lots of snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 10:06:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21354505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintDaechu25/pseuds/MintDaechu25
Summary: Syuko goes out to the convenience store after it snows. Yumi catches up to her to help and they hang out at an empty bus stop.One-shot for Deresute Femslash Week. Day 4 -- Fall/Winter.
Relationships: Shiomi Syuko/Aiba Yumi
Series: Deresute Femslash Week 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536988
Kudos: 1





	Winter Iris

Syuko liked winter.

From Christmas to New Years, the whole season was full of tasty foods all around. She remembered that as a kid, on New Years Day she would ride on her dad’s shoulders to their neighborhood shrine and let the amazake warm her up inside as they waited for the first rays of sun to peak over the horizon. Or on Christmas when her parents closed the shop up early, they would sit and eat a giant meal together. Syuko even liked when winter ended, because as the season closed, it promised to bring warm sun and flower viewings as the sakura began to peek out of their newly emerged buds.

The sky above 346 Productions was a murky December grey. Clouds loitered in the sky, remnants of last night’s sudden snowfall. Winter might be nice, but the cold definitely wasn’t. Syuko listened to the crunch of fresh snow underneath her feet. She had to be deliberate with each step. The corner of her boot’s sole was starting to peel off and she was one misstep away from a cold, soggy walk to the convenience store. Sure, she could have just replaced the boot sooner, but old habits from her couch hopping days were hard to break. She pulled her coat tighter around her, making the fur on the hood tickle the edges of her cheek. It was an old coat from one of the producers at the office but it got its job done. Syuko should probably get a new coat whenever she decided to invest in a new pair of boots. But that was for future-Syuko to worry about. Right now, current-Syuko had to make sure her socks didn’t get wet and that all her toes stayed on her foot.

At the crosswalk, Syuko dug the toe of her shoe into the snow, scooping up what she could and flinging it towards the asphalt. It landed with a weak splat a meager foot away. She repeated the motion until one car drove close enough to the curb to crunch through the small pile. It had all but obliterated what little snow Syuko had managed to accumulate, leaving behind long white streaks of tire tracks. Syuko wished she could see what would happen if a really big car went through a really big snow pile -- whether it would leave a big-car-shaped hole through the middle like in cartoons. The light of the crosswalk flickered green, dying the snow on the ground in its color. 

As she crossed the street, Syuko heard a barrage of pings from her phone’s notifications. She pulled it out of her coat pocket and saw a flurry of messages crowd the screen. It felt like everyone at the office was giving her their personal convenience store request. At the top of the streak of messages, there was one from Producer Momoki. Succinct as ever, it read --

Producer: Apologies. Am sending someone to help. Wait at main crosswalk.  
Producer: One can of caramel coffee and One bag of peach candy. Thank you.

Syuko sent an “okay” emoji and put her phone away deep into her jacket pocket. Seeing as there was no one nearby yet, Syuko looked around for a place to wait. The benches were too wet to be sat on. Her coat was just short of giving her a mini-cushion. Maybe she should buy a new one; one long enough to protect her butt from snowy benches. A chill ran through the air and Syuko shivered. She looked up at the sky and rubbed her upper arms to drum up some kind of heat. But that left her hands out in the frosty open and Syuko decided to save her fingertips by keeping them in her pockets. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bus terminal down the street. It was a little hard to see from the crosswalk, but the slim roof and thin walls would be better protection than nothing. Syuko pulled her hood over her head and zipped her coat up as high as it would go. She plodded to the terminal and sat in the farthest corner of the bench. She closed her eyes.

Were winters in Kyoto this cold?

Her ears heard the crunching of snow all around her as people walked up and down the street. Did different shoes make different noises when they went through snow? Syuko tried to distinguish the sounds, but they melded together into an orchestra of students and office workers and all the other people that were on their way to wherever they needed to be. She wondered if whoever Producer Momoki sent from the office could see her hidden in the bus terminal, whether she could tell that they were coming from the sound of their shoes. It would be great if they missed her completely, going out of their way to the convenience store on their own and then back to the office with their head held in shame. Syuko would show up with overflowing plastic bags right in the middle of Producer Momoki chewing that poor person out. She would be like the god of the convenience store. Benevolent, but kind of an asshole.

“Syuko-chan?”

Syuko opened her eyes and saw a fluffy white coat in front of her. One that reached past the butt and made a little cushion for when you wanted to sit on snowy benches. She lifted her eyes and behind the white of the jacket, Syuko saw snow floating down in a light sheet. Against the monochrome of the snow and the sky, a flower hairpin rooted itself in the mess of blonde hair peeking out from underneath the jacket’s hood. 

“Oh, so you were the gopher, Yumi-han,” Syuko said. She pulled her hood back and shivered when the air hit her ears.

“Gopher?” Yumi blinked twice. She pulled down her own hood, revealing a pair of gloves decorated in some flower or another. “Uh, I don’t know about that. Producer asked if anyone could help you out and I volunteered. It’s not like anyone bullied me into doing it…”

“Hm,” Syuko hummed in a half-response and pointed at the gloves, “Do I get a pair of those too?”

“Oh no! I should have borrowed a pair -- You look really cold,” Yumi said. She reached into her pocket and pressed something heavy into Syuko’s hands. “It’s not much, but I brought some hot packets. That should help a little. They’ll be more useful to you than for me.”

Yumi smiled. Syuko looked at the packs in her hands. They were covered in a pattern of a cartoon fox and tanuki wrapped up in scarves. She smiled back at Yumi and began to rub it between her hands until heat sprung from its core. It melted away the frost that had already begun to spread on her fingers and Syuko pressed them against her cheeks before moving down to her neck. She gave an appreciative hum and smiled. “You’re a lifesaver, Yumi-han.”

“No problem,” Yumi said, smile still on her face.

“I’m surprised you found me. I thought this bus stop would be a good hidin’ place.”

“Wait, were you hiding on purpose?”

Syuko shrugged and rolled the packs around in her hands, “Maybe.” She smiled, “How’d you think to look over here?”

“Well, it started snowing when I left the office, so I thought that you got caught up in it,” Yumi said, “I figured you would try to find some shelter, so I went to what was closest to the crosswalk. It was a lucky guess.”

“Lucky, huh,” Syuko said with a low laugh, “You’re humble, Detective Aiba.” Syuko stuffed her hands back in her pockets and leaned back onto the terminal’s wall. The cold air tickled the back of her neck and she shifted her shoulders to push her jacket up to cover the bare skin. It was too soon to go anywhere, not after she had just made herself comfy. Syuko yawned. Yup, definitely a waste to move right now. She snaked her hand out and patted the space next to her on the bench before returning her hand to its shelter. Yumi raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t we going to go to the store?” Yumi asked.

“Well, we ain’t in a rush, are we?” Syuko said, “The others can wait a little. Lemme get my body heat back first. Then we can go. Five minutes, tops.”

Yumi looked behind her shoulder at the falling snow and back at Syuko. After a moment’s hesitation, she cautiously sat down and said, “Doesn’t Producer always tell you to do things on time, instead of being so laid back?” 

“Funny, that’s what Sae-han tells me too.” Syuko said with a lazy smile. When Yumi sat down, Syuko realized she had overestimated the size of this bench. While it was too big for just one person, it was too small to comfortably hold two. A bench for one and a half people. Yumi’s shoulder pressed against Syuko’s and their legs weren’t much farther apart. The frost on Yumi’s hair had disappeared, leaving behind a soft wetness that made her bangs cling to her forehead. Yumi’s flowerpin shone in the dim light of the street bouncing off the snow. She looked out at the steady snowfall with a quiet sigh. Yumi turned to see Syuko staring at her and turned away. Syuko watched Yumi’s eyes dart from the snow to her lap, her nose a soft pink from the cold.

“Um, Syuko-chan,” Yumi said, her eyes following the taxi trudging down the road, “Is there something on my face?”

Syuko didn’t answer. She reached out a hand and pressed it against Yumi’s cheek. Yumi’s skin jumped under her hand. The warmth from Yumi’s face spread through Syuko’s body, digging through the surface of her skin and deep inside her veins. It warmed her from the inside out, like amazake on New Year’s Day. Maybe Yumi was good with flowers because they could feel this from her. Even on snowy days, she made them feel warm.

The pink around Yumi’s nose blossomed onto her cheeks. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped herself. The quiet of the snow and the crunch of shoes hummed between them. After a while -- Syuko couldn’t tell whether it had been seconds or minutes -- Yumi shyly said, “Your hands are cold. I thought you had the hot packs?”

“I get cold easily,” Syuko pulled her hand back. Her palm stung as the cold air hit the skin. She cupped her hands together and huffed into them. The white puffs of breath were soon replaced with shy, bare fingers reaching out to touch her skin. Syuko shivered at the suddenness of their warmth. Her skin was burning. It cut to her very core and Syuko felt her body light up like a flame.

Yumi folded one finger at a time, careful and deliberate, until she had her hand wrapped around Syuko’s palm. She didn’t have any strength behind it, like if she held too hard, Syuko’s hand would crumble away into frost. Her tan fingertips grazed against pale skin with a practiced expertise. Like a gardener examining her flower’s petals, Yumi explored the grooves and ridges of Syuko’s palm, feeling the rise and fall of her knuckles. Syuko saw one of Yumi’s gloves in her lap while her other hand was working against her jacket to take the second glove off. Without waiting, Syuko pulled the fabric from Yumi’s fingers and rested it on top of its twin. At the same time, Yumi let go. A cold breeze hit her skin and Syuko hadn’t realized that her breath had been caught in her throat. It came out in a large puff that made everything hazy.

By the time she realized what was going on, Syuko couldn’t feel the cold against her skin anymore. Yumi’s hand was replaced with the soft fabric of gloves. She stretched her hand and in the gaps between her fingers, she could see Yumi fan her own face. Syuko smiled and pressed the back of her hand against Yumi’s cheek, brushing just under her ear. Yumi giggled and gently pushed it away, “That tickles.”

“Sorry,” Syuko half-apologized, half-laughed. She watched Yumi stand up as the first rays of sun began to peek out from behind the clouds. 

It had stopped snowing.

“Come on, let’s go. No more excuses.” Yumi said with her hands on her hips. Syuko stifled a laugh and stood. The sound of her own old boots crunching against the snow echoed in her ears and Syuko kicked some of the fresh fall onto the asphalt road. From down the street, she could hear the inhale and exhale of the bus approaching. Yumi had already started walking. She looked behind her shoulder and waved, “Come on!”

“Comin’~” Syuko said, catching up with Yumi in a few wide strides and watched the other girl rub her hands together. She could still feel the warmth of the hot packs. Syuko pulled the glove off and held it in the palm of the other glove. She reached out with her bare hand and grabbed Yumi’s hand, slipping it into her pocket. Their fingers wrapped around the hot pack before settling into each other. Syuko didn’t need to look at Yumi’s face to tell that she was blushing, it was practically radiating off of her. They walked in silence towards the towering light of the convenience store’s sign.

When they reached the front of the store, Yumi pulled her hand out first. Syuko duly followed and pulled the other glove back on. She reached into her pockets and offered the hot packs to Yumi. She whispered a thank you and squeezed them in her palms. Patches of blue were beginning to appear from behind the grey clouds. Syuko raised a hand up towards the clearing sky and examined the pattern on the gloves. They were wide flowers, decorated a pale blue.

“What kinda flowers are these anyway?” Syuko asked.

“Those are winter irises,” Yumi said, looking at the gloves, “They’re a special kind of flower that bloom during the winter.”

“They look mighty pretty.”

“Yeah,” Yumi whispered, her voice heavy and warm, “They really are.”

**Author's Note:**

> no one else ships this besides me and like 3 japanese syuko-ps but that's ok


End file.
